What Was Music Like 100 Years Ago?

Many kids today hardly know that there was music more than a few decades ago. America’s Jukebox, a free program of the Library of Congress, music and speeches from earlier periods are available for browsing, searching and playing.

The collection includes speeches from politicians such as Teddy Roosevelt, classical music and opera, jazz and ragtime recorded between 1900 and 1925. Many musical greats, such as George M. Cohan, John Philip Souza and Irving Berlin are well-represented in the collection.